Cleobella's Angela O'Brien on building a "slow, sustainable and profitable" fashion company

The Glossy Podcast

Cleobella founder and designer Angela O’Brien built her strong, 15-year-old business from an idea she had while galavanting around the globe.

“My husband and I left our jobs in Southern California, and we did a trip around the world for a year -- we lived in a camper van in Europe, and we traveled all through Southeast Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. And we felt this freedom that we wanted more of,” O’Brien said on the latest Glossy Podcast. “So the idea became, ‘How do we create a business and keep this journey going?’”

Now, she splits her time between living in Bali and doing business in Los Angeles, the headquarters of her globally-inspired, ethically-made fashion brand produced by artisans around the world.

The brand has a story worth telling, too, O’Brien said. “The customer cares how her product is made. And having that openness, and telling the story of the people and the hands and the hearts that make our product, that's what's most important to me. And that's what builds a legacy brand.”

Currently, the self-owned brand is in growth mode -- for example, it’s grown its DTC business 100% year-over-year, O’Brien said. She also discussed what’s fueling the growth, why she still believes in wholesale and why she won’t be fundraising any time soon.